1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid dispenser and is more particularly concerned with a wall mounted soap dispenser for dispensing liquid soap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The inventors are aware of the prior art liquid dispenser disclosed in application Ser. No. 363,966, filed Mar. 31, 1982 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,294. There is common ownership between that patent application and the current application.
Application Ser. No. 363,966 discloses a liquid dispenser having a flat back plate which hingedly receives a vacuum formed front casing. A cartridge is mounted within the cavity formed by the back plate and the front casing, the cartridge being carried by a bracket mounted on the back plate. A nozzle assembly depending from the cartridge extends between the cartridge carrying bracket and a loosely mounted knob and when the knob is depressed, the liquid soap is dispensed from the nozzle assembly. While this prior art dispenser operates quite satisfactorily, it has quite a number of parts which require considerable labor for assembling the same. Also, the parts require accurate positioning when the device is assembled.
Also in the prior art are other liquid soap dispensers. One such liquid dispenser is known by the trademark SANI-FRESH. This prior art device includes a main housing assembly formed by a rear molded plastic member and front casing. Liquid soap is contained in a plastic bag in the upper end of the housing assembly and a nozzle assembly is permanently affixed to a bag contained within a fiberboard housing. This nozzle assembly has an injection molded nozzle tip within which is a spring loaded check valve. The nozzle assembly also has a depressable tube mounted adjacent to a platen on the inner surface of the forward housing so that an angularly disposed squeeze plate, which is moved forwardly by a lever, can pinch off a portion of the tube and then progressively apply pressure as a lever is brought forward for discharging the liquid which is pinched off in the tube. When the liquid soap is to be replenished, both the nozzle and the housing should be replaced. The nozzle tends to leak and this prior art device is quite complex, being formed of intricate molded parts.
The present invention provides an inexpensive device, the major parts of which are formed from extruded parts which are cut to size. The nozzle assembly of the present invention does not readily leak and the liquid reservoir or cartridge assembly which contains liquid soap can be substituted for the liquid reservoir or cartridge assembly in the two prior art devices described above.